


The Merry Old Land of Oz

by noraisnotonfire



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV), The Wizard Of Oz (1939)
Genre: Gen, dark!Oz AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-05
Updated: 2015-02-17
Packaged: 2018-01-03 14:00:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1071277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noraisnotonfire/pseuds/noraisnotonfire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Neverland, everyone returns to the Enchanted Forest. There Captain Hook decides to go his own way. While on his way to the dock, he meets some old friends, Tin Man, Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion, and Dorothy of Oz. But one day, Glinda takes Dorothy captive to be held prisoner by the Wizard. So the men decide to travel to Oz to save her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Beginning

It was a cold, crisp day in Storybrooke. It was great weather for a ball, which was precisely what was happening. The Charmings decided to throw a royal ball in order to show off Snow’s baby bump. Hook watched in the outskirts of the ballroom as Emma danced with Neal. The moonlight made her blonde hair shine like gold, and her pink dress showed off her body. She looked happy being reunited with her family that Hook felt it was wrong to try to stop it. So he made his decision: he was going to leave here and find somewhere else to dwell. It was obvious he wasn’t welcome here. So he took his leave to the docks to find a ship.  
While on his way, he was stopped by bandit in a cloak with the hood drawn on his face. The bandit brandished his sword and said in a rolling Scottish accent, “Stop! Empty your pockets or else!” Hook stopped in his tracks, recognizing the bandit’s voice. He noticed a small tattoo of a scarecrow decorating the top of his wrist on the left hand.  
“And if I refuse?” Hook asked, suspicious of the man.  
As he ended his sentence another bandit jumped into view. “We’ll kill you.” Said the new bandit, dressed similar to his counter part, yet distinguishable by his Welsh accent. He too had a wrist tattoo, but one of a tin man.  
“I don’t think I believe you.” Hook asked, attempting to stall the bandits.  
As if by magic the third bandit appeared, wearing a similar ensemble to the others. He proclaimed in a South African accent, “Trust me when I say, we would not hesitate to kill you.”  
As the bandit discussed his intentions, Hook noticed a small tattoo of a lion on the wrist of the third bandit. The familiarity washed over him and he smiled smugly, “Ah. Of course. Scarecrow, Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion. So nice to see you once again. Parading through the forest for scrapes, I see.”  
All three men removed their hoods to reveal their faces and clothing.  
The man with the scarecrow tattoo had floppy messy blonde hair, and bangs that constantly covered his yellow eyes. He had a tall and lanky body that came in handy when using his acrobatic skills. He wore a short-sleeved red tunic, brown pants, and brown boots.  
The man with tin man tattoo seemed to be greying, but the hairs shined like silver amongst his light blonde hair, and seemed to glow in the moonlight. His blue eyes were a pale blue, and in some lights, seemed to be white. His skin seemed to made up of moonlight by how pale he was. As if to exaggerate his pale skin, he wore silver boots that met with his knees and paired them with light gray pants and a silver tunic. His tunic hid his long torso, but hugged his broad shoulders, and allowing someone seeing him for the first time to concentrate on his long thin legs.  
The third man with the lion tattoo had a mess of curly brown hair frizzed into mane and swept the top of his shoulders. His eyes were a brilliant green and were accentuated by his tanned skin. A golden tunic covered his thick torso and dark brown pants and dark brown boots protected his muscular legs.  
All three men had belts that held their long swords and black wristband on their right hands.  
“How did you find us out?” Tin Man said.  
“Your tattoos. For people who don’t like to expose themselves, you don’t do a very good job of covering them.” Hook replied.  
All three of them looked at their tattoos simultaneously and gave a laugh.  
“I see you’re missing a partner-in-crime. Where’s Dorothy?” he asked.  
“For someone who seeks treasure, you are really unobservant.” a woman’s voice with a Yorkshire accent proclaimed from behind Hook.  
He turned around to see a familiar head of red hair. She had tied back her hair so as to frame her freckled face, and allowing her bangs to frame her face, which only strengthened her beauty. Her doe-like eyes were an earthy brown. She wore a gingham blue and white tunic with a square neckline which hugged her curves, creating the illusion of a corset being used, and her sleeves reached her elbows, allowing breathing room for the small tattoo of a Scottish terrier on the left hand and a dark green wristband on her right hand. She also wore tight black pants and knee high boots with an inch of heel. Her tight black pants were tucked into the boots.  
“I wondered when I would see your faces again.” Hook said, smirking.  
“It’s nice to see you again Killian. It has been a while,” she said with a smile on her face. “The last time we saw you, you were off to seek fortune. I can’t quite recall when it was exactly that we last saw you but I believe it was shortly after the discovery of fire, if my memory serves me well.”  
Hook shrugged, unmoved by Dorothy’s sarcastic remark. The shrug caused his hook to shine moonlight into Dorothy’s field of vision. Curious, she looked down at his hand and asked loudly, “What happened there?” Causing all those around to stare at the wonder that was Hook’s hook.  
Hook looked down at his hand, with the current reunion taking place he had almost forgotten about his slight handicap. “A crocodile took it.” He answered coolly.  
“A crocodile? Their diets don’t usually consist of human meat. How did he manage to take it?” she asked, raising one eyebrow.  
“The man who took my hand had the skin of a crocodile.” Hook said impatiently.  
“How were we to know you have taken up speaking in riddles? You should have simply stated that a man had taken your hand, sparing us from inquiring after crocodiles and their feeding habits. A man taking your hand makes more sense,” Tin Man replied.  
“What’d you do?” Scarecrow inquired.  
“Why must I have done something? Humans can be cruel in nature, and this man doubly so. How do you know he did not take it to create joy for himself?” he asked.  
“You know as well as I most humans are not cruel. Also, you are Captain Hook. There have been many times where I almost cut off your head, let alone your hand. I sincerely doubt that you were the innocent party in that matter. No one gets a punishment they do not deserve,” Cowardly Lion said wistfully.  
“This is one of the rare occasions in which I was an innocent. I did nothing to the man. He only took my hand because I had fallen in love with his wife,” Hook stated.  
“Ah, there it is. There is the reason behind the action,” Tin Man said.  
Dorothy had remained quiet during the entire dialogue. Her eyes were fixated on the hook that still continued to shine moonlight onto her face. Suddenly, as if possessed by some thought, she grabbed his wrist and pulled off his hook.  
“What on Earth do you think you are doing?” Hook asked, surprised by this random action.  
“No talking,” she answered.  
She took the stub and held it underneath her right hand; as if there was an invisible hand she was planning on shaking. Suddenly, a hand began to grow from the stub, emerging from the long-healed skin. After a few moments, the hand was fully formed and Dorothy freed it from her grasp. Hook examined his new-formed hand with wonder in his eyes. “How did you manage to do this?”  
“Really? Magic, of course. How else?” was her smart-ass answer.  
Hook glared at her asinine reply. “Oh, I am so sorry. Magic? Really?” he asked sarcastically, “I could never have guessed.”  
“Yes, magic,” she replied in an exasperated tone.  
“Now, where did you acquire such a gift? The last time we saw each other the only magic you were barely able to perform required coins and a child’s unwashed ear. And even then you still were unable to convince even the most naïve of children that you had some sort of power.”  
“I learned it.”  
“Really? You learned it?” he asked sarcastically, “I had no idea that was possible.”  
“Yes, I learned it. It is possible to learn a new skill but seeing as you could never leave that self-centered world of yours, you can’t possibly see that. However, this is besides the original point of conversation. What are you doing now?” she questioned hurriedly.  
“I am journeying to the docks in search of a crew to sail with me,” was the reply provided by Hook.  
“May we come along? There is not much to do here, as there is no need for spies in this land. We long for adventure.” Tin Man asked excitedly.  
“Can you man a ship?” Hook asked.  
“Can we man a ship? He’s asking if we can man a ship,” Scarecrow said. “And how long has he known us exactly?”  
“I am not sure Hook, can YOU man a ship?” Cowardly Lion scoffed.  
“It is as if he has forgotten how we were introduced. Everything he knows of piracy comes from our dear friend Dorothy. Am I not correct?” Tin Man asked.  
“Yes, Tin Man. You are indeed correct. When we first met him the closest thing he was to a pirate was to look upon the ocean from his window. Now that he is a big and important pirate, he has the audacity to question our nautical knowledge.” Dorothy replied, shaking her head and tutting.  
“Oh, alright. Stop with the commentary. Can you find me a crew then?” Hook asked.  
“We can help you find a crew, but only for something in return,” Dorothy said.  
“You can come along and be part of the crew,” Hook said.  
“Excellent, let us search for the remainder of this promising crew,” Dorothy said.  
….  
Six Months Later: Enchanted Forest…again…  
“Dorothy, I have most pressing news. It seems our dear friend Killian has once again found himself to become intoxicated at the local tavern,” Tin Man announced, making his way into the Jolly Roger’s captain’s quarters.  
Dorothy looked up from the map that she had been hunched over and studying in deep thought. She sighed at Tin Man’s news.  
“Alright. Let’s get Scarecrow and Lion and go retrieve him. It’s not as if I was doing something important.”  
They met with the two men and went on their way towards the tavern to retrieve the drunken pirate.  
When they arrived, they saw that Hook was seated at an empty tabled, with his head drooping and hand grasping tightly to an empty lager glass.  
Dorothy rolled her eyes, much to the amusement of Tin Man, who noted this action from his peripheral vision.  
“This is a growing nuisance. Why does he drink until he can no longer feel?” inquired Scarecrow.  
“He can’t accept that Emma won’t love him back,” Dorothy explained. “It’s becoming quite annoying. Come, let us take him back to the ship.”  
The quartet walked up to the table in unison. Tin Man and Lion put his arms around their shoulders and lifted him from his seat.  
“Hello, Tin Man and Lion! My, my. Your names are quite strange, you know. Are they your ACTUAL names?” Hook slurred.  
“Let us take him back to the ship,” Dorothy ordered. “Scarecrow, please go with them and make sure Hook does not attempt to get away. I do not think his body could take another drop of alcohol.”  
The three men nodded, and dragged their friend out the door. Dorothy, with a frown, turned around and faced the large barkeep. “How much does he owe you this time?”  
Next day  
Hook awoke the next morning with a headache that felt as if a million elephants were stepping on his head at once. He slowly sat up and rubbed his temple. With a loud groan he threw his feet over the bed and walked to the door leading outside. He opened the door carefully, as if he were scared of being attacked by an assailant. The door revealed a beautiful sunny day, much to the dismay of Hook’s head. He attempted to block it out with his hands.  
“Good morning Killian! Have you slept well? Is it not a gorgeous morning?” hollered the Tin Man.  
Hook glared as best as he could, with his still splitting headache and hoarsely replied, “Shut up. Turn off the sun.”  
“Absolutely not good sir. Not only is your request most impossible, it is also part of the amazing consequences of having too much drink,” Tin Man replied.  
A crewman rushed towards them in a panic, “Tin Man! Sir! I have most distressing news!”  
Hook let out a groan. Not only was the man loud, he had also caused his request for the shut down of the sun to go ignored.  
“What is it, my good man? Tin Man asked hurriedly.  
“Dorothy, sir. She’s been taken!”  
“What? How did this happen? Who took her?” Tin Man asked worriedly.  
“I do not know, sir. It happened so quickly. There was a beautiful woman in a pink dress that came through a portal. She and Dorothy battled each other for a while, but Dorothy lost to the pink woman. The woman then grabbed her and took her through the portal. The strangest part of the entire business was Dorothy’s face. She showed fear. I have never seen her scared before.”  
Tin Man began to take deep breaths, as if to calm down a panic that was rising within him, and his face turned a sickly pale color.  
Hook looked at his face and asked, “What is it? Do you know the pink woman?”  
“I must ask that you call for Scarecrow and Lion and have them meet us in the captain’s quarters,” Tin Man said over his shoulder to the crewman as he walked towards the room.  
Hook, unrelenting in his curiosity, followed him, although his head still ached.  
“Tin Man! Answer me! Who was the pink woman?”  
“It was Glinda. She was a witch that ruled the southern portion of Oz. She came here to take Dorothy back to Oz.”  
“Pardon me for asking, but I though you were from Oz?”  
“We are.”  
“I don’t understand what the problem is.”  
Tin Man stopped in his tracks, and Hook followed suit. Tin Man looked Hook in the eyes and answered, “It is a crime to go against the Wizard. Scarecrow, Lion, and I, we fought against the Wizard and were imprisoned. Scarecrow was forced to be a lifeless scarecrow, forced to look over a field of corn; I was sentenced to become a rusty old tin man, forced in a frozen state. Lion was turned into a lion and unable to leave the forest he was made to live in. We were to never see each other again. Dorothy rescued us from our punishments and reunited us. We became wanted criminals, and left Oz to spare our lived. We vowed none of us would ever return to Oz, no matter what happened. But now Dorothy has been taken prisoner for the Wizard.”  
“Why would he keep her prisoner? With a power such as his, why not just kill her and be done with it?”  
Before Tin Man could reply, Lion and Scarecrow ran into the cabin.  
“What has happened, Tin Man?” Asked Scarecrow.  
“Men, we must return to Oz. Glinda has taken Dorothy, and it is up to us to get her back.” Tin Man said.  
“How will be accomplish this? We do not have the skill required to create a tornado, nor do we have any magic beans with which to travel and no way to call the flying monkeys here,” the Lion argued.  
Without speaking, Tin Man procured a bag and placed it on the table. He then took out a pair of ruby slippers. After a moment of silence, Tin Man spoke, “Dorothy once told me that these were a gift from Elphiba. She told me that if you tap them together and think very hard of a place, you will be transported there. I believe that these shoes will take us back to Oz.” He turned to Hook, “Will you be joining us?”  
Hook nodded.  
“Are we ready men?” Tin Man asked.  
“Yes!” they replied.  
“Good. Take a hold of me and think of Oz.” He tapped the shoes together and closed his eyes.  
All four men disappeared in a poof and landed on soft ground.  
“Home Sweet Home.” Said the Tin Man bitterly.  
“Oz.” Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion said in unison.  



	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuation of the first chapter

Hook looked around at Oz. The grass was a dying gray and the sky looked as if it was threatening to downpour. Everything around them looked dreary and a dying gray.

“I’d never think that Oz looked so…. Sad from the way Dorothy described it. She made it seem like it was the best place on earth,” Hook said.

“That’s how we like to remember it, the beautiful place it used before the Wizard destroyed it,” Scarecrow said bitterly, “He ruined it with his cruelty and greed and the land reflects that.”

“I’m sorry mate,” Hook said.

“When we rescue Dorothy, we’ll leave here and never return,” Tin Man said.

“But what about the citizens of Oz, the people who constantly have to live here all the time? Don’t they deserve a happy life?” Hook asked.

“We tried Killian, we tried to save Oz but we failed, we couldn’t do it,” Lion said sadly, “We became fugitives and had to run away. The safest thing for everyone is if we’re not here. “

“But-“ Hook started.

“Please Killian, just drop it,” Tin Man interrupted.

Hook looked at all three of them, they all looked sad. He then decided to change the subject.

“So how are we going to rescue Dorothy from the Wizard?” he asked.

“I dunno, we need to make a plan, like first how are we going to get into the Emerald Palace and then how are we going to get Dorothy out of the Palace and Oz?” Tin Man said.

“Well I know how to get out of Oz, Dorothy can make a tornado and we can get out of Oz with her,” Scarecrow said.

 

Meanwhile at the Emerald Palace…

Dorothy woke up on a cold metallic floor. Her hands were unbound and unhurt. She stood up and inspected herself for bruises but found nothing. She inspected her surroundings to find herself in a jail cell. She looked at the guards and saw that they were wearing emerald green suits of armor and helmets blocking her view of their faces.

“Hey, when am I getting out of here?” she asked the guards.

They ignored her.

“Hey! How long are you gonna keep me locked up in here?” she asked again.

Again, no answer.

“Hey! Answer me! How long am I gonna be kept here?”

“The depends on whether or not you cooperate,” a smooth articulate male’s voice said from the dark entrance.

The voice belonged to a tall, thin man wearing a emerald green suit that fitted him extremely well, a crisp white shirt, and an emerald green tie. He had short blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes that had an evil twinkle. His face was very handsome but the sight of him and his stupid face filled Dorothy with disgust. This was the Wizard.

“If I cooperate with what?” she sneered, grabbing at the cold metal bars of her cage.

“Hello, Dorothy it’s been a while hasn’t it? How are you?” he asked, pacing slowly in front of her cage.

 “If I cooperate with what?” she said again.

“You look well, it seems that time away has done you good. I’m quite well, just a little peeved that you never came to visit after you left me,” he calmly said, giving no indication of hearing her question.

“If I cooperate with what?” she asked for the third time, this time seething with anger and the contempt obvious.

“You know exactly what I want Dorothy,” he finally answered her.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about Wizard.”

The Wizard gave a cold smile, his demeanor unchanged. He was calm and collected as he spoke, talking to her as if he was asking her to get the groceries. He stopped pacing and walked up her cage and gave her a once over through the bars.

“I know your secret Dorothy,” he said, “I wanna know where my son is.”

“I’ve told you before, I have no idea where your son is. And besides how would I know where he is?”

“Cause he’s your son too Dorothy.”

Dorothy gave a smile. “Oh right, that son. Yeah, he’s dead, been that way for a long time. Sorry, looks like whatever evil plan you have won’t work.”

The Wizard gave a sly smile. “I know you Dorothy, if he did die you wouldn’t been so cool about it. So I know he’s alive. All I need is his name and you can go free.”

“I never named him. He was taken away from me before I could.”

The Wizard’s nostrils flared. This was the only change in his demeanor that indicated his emotions. He leaned closer to the bars.

“I need him Dorothy. I can make everything the way it was before. I can make you love me again like before. You and I, we can run Oz together, just like you wanted.”

“Except I don’t want that anymore. I don’t love you anymore and I don’t want to anymore. I was a child when I had those thoughts and I’ve grown up. That part of my life is over and I never want it back. I don’t anything to do with you anymore.”

“Is that so?”

Dorothy glared at the Wizard. “I never gave my son a name.”

…

“Okay, so how do we get into the Emerald Palace?” Tin Man asked, looking at Scarecrow.

“Why are you looking at me?” Scarecrow asked.

“Cause you’re always the one with the plan, Scare,” Tin Man said.

“Well maybe I’m tired of being the one with the plan, Tin. Maybe you should come up with the plan this time.”

“Oh, okay so you want me to make the plan? Cause last time that worked out so well.”

“He does have a point Scare,” Lion remarked, “His last plan crashed and burned.”

“Right maybe I should stick to making that plans,” Scarecrow agreed.

“See, you’re the brains, Lion is the brawn, and I’m here to look good,” Tin Man said.

“And what’s my job exactly?” Hook piped up.

“To mope around because you didn’t get the girl,” Tin Man said bluntly.

Hook gave a fake laugh,” Ha ha very funny. We all know I’m here for comedic relief.”

Tin Man snorted. “Yeah, all right, whatever you say.”

“Okay now that’s all sorted out, how do we get into the Emerald Palace?” Lion asked.

Scarecrow thought for a minute. “We need to disguise ourselves. That means we need to get clothes and find a barber.”

“Why do we need a barber?” Hook asked.

“The Emerald Palace has a very strict dress code, breaking it means death,” Scarecrow replied. “Men are required to be clean-shaven, clean from all dirt, neat eyebrows, and short, clean hair. They must wear a clean, well fitted emerald suit, white dress shirt, emerald green tie, and black dress shoes.”

“That’s very specific,” Hook said.

“Wells that’s the way it is,” Tin Man said.

“And a problem with getting our disguises is that people will recognize us, well at least these,” Scarecrow said, holding up his wrist with the black wristband. “The minute anyone sees these they’ll turn away their business no matter how much we pay them.”

“Stupid wristbands,” Tin Man said.

“Maybe you should have thought of that before you committed those crimes,” Hook said.

He was met with three murderous gazes from the three men. He put his hands up in the air.

“Kidding. Just kidding,” he quickly said. “No need to bite my head off. So how will we get our disguises if you guys can’t buy it?”

Scarecrow smirked and turned to Hook. “Well may have these but you don’t Killian. You’ve never been here so people don’t know who you are. So you can get them.”

“What about the barber?” Tin Man asked.

“Well, Killian can get a proper shave and hair cut from the barber and then buy the supplies so we can do it ourselves.”

“What about the wristbands when we try to get into the Emerald Palace? Won’t they see them then?” Hook asked.

“Not if we cover them with the sleeves of the shirt,” Scarecrow said.

Tin Man nodded. “Okay then, now we need to get Killian ready to get our supplies.”

“Get me ready? What does that mean?” Hook asked worriedly.

“Well first off, weapons aren’t allowed into the marketplace. Second, you need to take off any jewelry you have, especially rings. Anything flashy is most likely going to get stolen. Finally, we need a tattoo on your left hand, like us,” Lion said.

“Why do I need a tattoo?”

“Every citizen of Oz has one. Some of them have the same tattoo, signifying a group. Others, like us, have tattoos that change into something that has deep meaning to us, like ours. Like you see mine is a lion because the Wizard’s punishment for me was turning me into a lion to wonder aimlessly in the forest. So when I became human again, my tattoo became a lion to remind me of my past. So, in order to blend in with other citizens, we need to draw a tattoo on your hand. I think it should be a ship since you know, you’re a pirate and everything,” Lion explained.

“Uh, sounds good, I guess,” Hook said. “As long as it’s not going to permanent.”

“No, of course not. How on earth are we supposed to that without magic? Permanent tattoo, idiotic,” Scarecrow said.

Hook raised an eyebrow at this. He forgot that they didn’t know anything about the modern world.

“Well how are you going to put the tattoo on me?” Hook asked.

“Uh, we have one of these,” Tin Man said, holding up a pen, “What this is. Some one told us that it writes like a quill but doesn’t require ink.”

“Yes, it’s called a pen,” Hook said slowly. “It has the ink stored inside it.”

“Stored inside? However does that work?” Scarecrow asked, surprised taking the pen from Tin Man to stare at it in wonder.

“I have no idea, but that’s how it is,” Hook said, staring wide-eyed at the three men looking at the pen in awe. “If this how you react to simple pen, I’d hate to see how you react to a cell phone.”

“A what?” Tin Man asked, “A cell phone, what on earth is that?”

Hook closed his eyes and heaved a sigh. “Never mind, let’s just get on with drawing the tattoo of a ship on my hand so I can go to the market.”

“Okay, okay, calm down. Now Tin do you wanna do the honors?” Scarecrow asked, handing the pen back to Tin Man.

Tin Man took the pen and grabbed Hook’s left hand. He pulled up the sleeve to expose the wrist and started drawing. He drew slowly and carefully, concentrating very hard on his careful strokes. Hook inwardly remarked on Tin Man’s skills, noting that he was a very good artist. When Tin Man was done drawing, Hook was left with a small drawing of a pirate ship on his left wrist.

“Now be careful to not smudge the ink so that it looks real. Also, make sure that your wrists are on display. This way the market people will know that you are a citizen of Oz and also not a criminal. Understand?” Tin Man said.

“Yes, I understand,” Hook replied.

The three men didn’t say anything else, they just stared at Hook. Hook raised his eyebrow.

“Well, uh, where is the marketplace?” Hook asked.

“Oh! Right. We’ll take you just outside the marketplace so no one sees that you’re with us and refuses you service,” Scarecrow said.

“And I think I’m gonna need money if I’m going to buy anything,” Hook commented.

“Right, right,” Tin Man said as all three men emptied their pockets of all the money they had and gave it to Hook. “There, that should be enough to buy us the supplies we need and for you to get cleaned up.”

“Okay, shall we go then?” Hook said.

Lion nodded and the quartet set off to the marketplace.

…

While Hook was at the marketplace, the other three men stayed hidden in the shadows waiting for his return.

“Why do you think the Wizard wants Dorothy? I mean why now after all these years?” Scarecrow asked.

“I don’t know. Their whole story is a big secret to everyone but them. You know how she is about secrets, that’s what made her such a good spy,” Tin Man remarked.

“Don’t you just wish that she told us something? It might be helpful to know what he wants with her and what he’s willing to do to get it. Cause what if he hurts her? Or kills her?” Lion asked.

“I don’t think he would kill her. I’ve seen the way he interacts with her. He has a strange obsession with her. I think he’s deluded himself into thinking he’s in love with her and it wasn’t as if she didn’t return those feelings at one point. So, he might try to shake her up a bit but he won’t hurt her,” Tin Man said. “Besides, they grew up together, so in his mind, she’s his childhood sweetheart.”

“I know, but remember, he’s a cruel man who only cares about himself and gaining power. If she stands in his way of getting what he wants, I’m worried that he’ll hurt her then.”

“Dorothy’s tougher than she seems, she knows how to defend herself. I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Tin Man said.

“Yeah, I keep thinking that but then I keep imagining the worst,” Lion said.

“We all are, but we have to keep a positive mind,” Scarecrow said, “Otherwise, we’ll spend most of our time imagining the worst situations and not get anything done.”

“Yes of course, I know. How are we going to get Dorothy out of the palace without alerting the entire castle guard?” the Lion said.

“I don’t think we can. I don’t have any kind of plan where we get Dorothy out of the palace without anyone noticing. So we just have to be very quick when we get Dorothy out and leave Oz as soon as we can. We can’t stay any longer than we have to after getting her out of the palace,” Scarecrow said.

“I wish we could do something about the Wizard. I wish we could help the people here from his awful rule. I just feel so hopeless when I look around Oz and see this dreary land. It used to be beautiful before the Wizard started to abuse his power and taking the life out the land,” the Lion said.

“We tried before, remember how that turned out? We became fugitives and had to flee or else face serious consequences. We’d be no good to Oz if we were dead,” Tin Man said.

“We’re no good now, running away and leaving that- that- that thing in charge! He’s not even human and he’s draining the life out of this place. Or are you forgetting why you went against the Wizard in the first place? What he ordered you to do?” the Lion said, forcefully.

“We all remember why we went against the Wizard Li! But I wanna live. I thought you of all people would understand that since you most of all have something worth living for!” Tin Man replied back.

Lion was quiet at this. Scarecrow looked to the floor before walking over Lion and taking his hand.

“Li I know you wanna help but there’s nothing we can do about Oz. The only thing we can do is leave and start a new life somewhere else. We have to leave Oz and never look back. This is the only way we can find some sort of happiness. I don’t wanna lose you,” Scarecrow softly said.

Lion sighed. “I don’t want to lose you either Scare. I just wish I could do something and not feel so helpless.”

“We all do, Li. We all do,” Tin Man said.

“All right mates, I’m back,” Hook said, coming into view.

He was holding a bundle in his hand. His hair had been cut short and his beard was gone. The skin around his eyebrows was a light red from where they have been cleaned.

“Do you have everything?” Tin Man asked.

“Yes, of course I do. Did you really think I wouldn’t?” Hook asked.

“No, of course not. It’s not like you’ve failed to deliver in the past,” Tin Man replied.

Hook gave him a surly look. “Well this isn’t one of those times.”

“I can see that,” Tin Man said, taking the bundle of clothes from Hook.

He unraveled the bundle and pulled out the suits. He handed one to each of the men and held the smaller bundle with the barber supplies in his hand.

“All right, how should we do this? Should we cut our hair and shave first or put on our suits first?” Tin Man asked.

“I think we should probably cut our hair and shave first so that we don’t mess up the suits. Well, Killian can put his on while we get ourselves ready,” Scarecrow replied.

After an hour of the quartet primping themselves, they put on their suits. Once they had them on, they smoothed out any wrinkles with their hands and fixed their collars.

“Now, we’re off to see the Wizard,” Scarecrow said.

“The wonderful Wizard of Oz,” Tin Man said bitterly.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The journey continues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry about taking so long to post this. I just forgot and then I can't continue the next chapter. So be prepared for an even longer break between this chapter and the next one.

Dorothy was dragged to the throne room of the Emerald Palace. Shackles that were too tight and dug into her skin replaced her green wristband. She was thrown to the ground and she managed to pull herself up to her knees. Her green wristband had been replaced by a pair of steel shackles that dug into her skin, clinking on the stone floor as she was thrown down to her knees. The Wizard stood in front of her, a smirk on his face.   
“You just don’t understand do you Dorothy?” he said with a sigh. “I look at you and I know that whatever you say is a lie. You had our son and you named him. No matter how hard you try to lie to me, I know you, and more importantly I know Oz and its citizens. The tattoo on your hand changed since the last time I saw you,” he added, kneeling down in front of her and grabbing her left hand.  
“And I know that in Oz, a person’s tattoo is something very important to them. It only changes when something in them changes. Like take me for instance, I used to have a tattoo like yours symbolizing our love. But now it’s a crown, symbolizing my position of power, that I’m the supreme ruler of Oz. You used to have a heart right here,” he said, softly rubbing her wrist with his thumb, “showing that your love for me was something very important to you. But now,” he spit out, flicking her hand away, “it’s a dog. I have no idea what that means, but I’m sure it has to do with our son.”  
“But what if my tattoo has nothing to do with him? What if it has nothing to do with you?” Dorothy replied, spitefully.   
The Wizard’s nostrils flared and he pressed his lips together. He stood back up. His facial expression was angry but his words were calm. “You don’t understand Dorothy. With our son, you can have all this again. You and your friends won’t have to be fugitives anymore. You can all live how you wish,” he promised, brushing her hair back from her eye. “You can be with me again. We can have it all, again. Don’t you want that?”   
Dorothy knew that despite his promises, he wasn’t being sincere and she didn’t want any of what he was offering.  
“No, I don’t. I don’t want to be with you anymore, and I highly doubt that even if I do give you what you want, you’ll let us go free.” She looked up, head held high, “We rebelled against you and disobeyed your direct orders. We will always remind you of that and if you free us the people will see it as a weakness and they might start to rebel against you, and you wouldn’t want that so you wouldn’t dare free us. The minute I give you want you want you’ll have my friends killed, and maybe you won’t kill me, but you’ll take away my free will and at that point I might as well be dead. So, no, I don’t want that.”   
The Wizard took a deep breath, fuming. Followed by another so that he could keep cool. “Dorothy,” he said, calmly, “I give you my word I won’t touch your friends, if you give me what I want.”  
“I don’t trust your word. I never have and I never will.”  
The Wizard turned and walked a few steps away. “You will give me what I want Dorothy. I will make sure of it.”  
“And I’m here to tell you that you won’t,” Dorothy replied lowly.   
The Wizard turned to face her, looking in her eyes. After a few seconds of silence, he looked up at the guards. “Take her away,” he commanded with a wave of his hand.  
….  
“So how long is it going to take ‘till we get to the Emerald Palace?” Hook asked.   
“Right now, we’re in the South kingdom, so… a while,” Scarecrow replied, “The Emerald Palace is in the heart of Oz, since you know, it is the heart of Oz.”  
Hook frowned. “How long is a while?” he asked   
“A day or so, depending on our speed and if we get stopped on the way there,” Tin Man replied, “It would be quicker if we could go through the forest, but once we hit the edge of the forest Li here would transform into a lion and be unable to get out.”  
“That’s not my fault,” Lion cried defensively.   
“Did I say it was your fault?” Tin Man snapped, “No. I was just informing our dear friend Killian of the situation,” Tin Man replied.  
“No one’s blaming you Li for anything, okay?” Scarecrow said, placing his hand soothingly on Lion’s arm.  
Lion closed his eyes at the touch and slowly nodded. “Okay.”  
“What if we encounter some one we know on the way to the Emerald City?” Scarecrow asked, worriedly.  
“Duck and run?” Tin Man offered.   
Scarecrow glared at Tin Man, who gave a sheepish smile. “I mean should we come up with like an excuse as to why we’re here or what?”  
“Why can’t you just wear your cloaks and cover up your faces until we get to the Emerald City?” Killian asked.  
“Because other travelers on the road would get suspicious of three people wearing cloaks that cover their faces accompanied by a man not wearing one. They’d alert the nearest soldier and we’d definitely be captured and brought to the Wizard,” Scarecrow said.   
“If Dorothy was here, she’d whip us up a disguise,” Tin Man said, sighing.  
“If Dorothy was with us, we wouldn’t be in this situation,” Scarecrow corrected, “We’d be back in the Enchanted forest on Killian’s ship. But she’s not, so we need to think of what to say if we encounter someone we knew.”  
“Well it depends on whether or not they’re friend or foe. We didn’t exactly leave here on good terms with many people. If someone spots us they could inform the Emerald Guard and we’d be locked up faster than we can blink. So I don’t think it really matters what excuse we come up with, it’s still very risky to be spotted,” Lion said.  
“So what do you suggest we do?” Scarecrow said, stopping in his tracks. “We can’t go through the forest because then you’d be stuck there, we can’t go through any corn fields cause then I’d go back to being a scarecrow and we can’t travel through the lumberjack forest because Tin Man would turn back into a tin man. We also can’t travel on the Yellow Brick Road because everyday travelers could spot us. So we have to travel through the back way, which means it’s going to take longer to get to the Emerald City. But we still run the risk of being spotted cause we have to travel through open clearings and we also run the risk of getting lost. It’s hopeless isn’t it? Why are we even trying?” Scarecrow said, throwing his hands in the air.  
“That wasn’t what I was saying, Scare,” Lion calmly said, “I was just saying that we don’t really need to work on an excuse because it won’t matter. No matter what excuse we have, we still run the risk of getting caught. So we just need to be careful and not trust anyone.”   
Scarecrow sighed. “I know. I’m sorry. I’m just so frustrated. The longer it takes for us to travel there, the longer the Wizard has Dorothy and I don’t know what he wants or what he’ll do to get what he wants. The more I think about the restrictions we have, the madder I get at the Wizard. Maybe if he wasn’t such a cruel person, I wouldn’t have had to burn important papers and none of this would have happened. If he wasn’t such an awful person, we wouldn’t have committed crimes against him and been unjustly punished.”   
“We know Scare. We all hate him for what he’s done, but being mad isn’t gonna help any. What we need to focus on is rescuing Dorothy as quick as possible before the Wizard hurts her,” Tin Man said.   
Scarecrow nodded. “I know, I know. I just wish things were different that’s it.”  
“Don’t we all?” Hook said.   
Tin Man looked at Hook and smirked. He put his hands on his heart and put on a bad imitation of a pirate, “Ar, if only Emma loved me back then I wouldn’t be so miserable and not be traveling with old friends and gotten my hand back. If only I hadn’t acted like such a cad and a jerk and believed that I deserved her love because I was nice to her a few times. If only I didn’t believe that women are property that are mine for the taking instead of humans with emotions and a will of her own.”   
Scarecrow, Lion, and Tin Man laughed, while Hook just glared.  
“Oh Tin, I think you hit a nerve there,” Scarecrow said, still laughing.  
“Well I hope he doesn’t start sulking, because if he does, we’ll just leave him here,” Lion added.   
“You wouldn’t dare,” Hook scoffed.  
“Watch us,” Scarecrow said.  
Hook glared at them and they glared right back. After a few seconds, Hook let out a sigh of defeat.   
“Fine, I won’t sulk,” Hook said sulking.   
They smiled. “All right, let’s continue on our journey,” Scarecrow said as they started walking again.   
They walked for many hours in silence; the only sound was their feet hitting the gravel and the nature around them. They tried to walk as quickly as their feet could take them, only stopping when one of them became tired and then only for ten minutes. But then the sun started to set and the night became cold.   
“Okay as much as I’d like to continue, we need to stop. It’s getting late and it’s dangerous to walk Oz at night,” Scarecrow said.   
“Yeah, you’re right,” Tin Man said, “We need to find things to light a fire with.”  
“I thought we were trying to be inconspicuous,” Hook said.  
“We are,” Tin Man replied.  
“So why are we lighting a fire? Wouldn’t that signal people where we are?”   
“A fire will keep us safe and keep away any dangerous animals,” Lion explained, “So we have to light a fire.”  
Hook nodded. “I’ll go look for firewood.”  
“All right, we can set up camp here then and prepare a place for the fire,” Tin Man said, as he searched for some rocks and laid them out in a circle for the fire. While Tin Man was doing this, Scarecrow went in search for some kindling, like leaves and moss. Lion took their cloaks from their knapsacks and placed them on the ground, close enough to the ring so that they would be warm. Scarecrow returned two minutes later with the kindling, accompanied by Hook who was carrying firewood. They set up a fire and had it blazing in less than a minute. The men then sat down on their cloaks. Tin Man was the first to speak.  
“How are we going to get to Dorothy? I mean I know we can get into the castle, but how are we going to know where in the castle she is? And how are we going to get to her without being spotted? The minute we enter the castle, we risk being captured and jailed. I’m sure the guards all know our faces.”  
“I don’t think we can really get to Dorothy without being spotted. The trick is for us to move as quickly as possible, get Dorothy, and get out. There’s no scenario where we manage to leave without raising some sort of alarm. So we just have to be quick,” Scarecrow responded.   
“Well maybe not all us have to go into the castle,” Hook offered, “We could have two of us outside the castle as the lookout and the two fastest ones could go inside and get Dorothy. Then, the two outside could maybe distract the guards in the front so that it’ll be clear for the ones inside to get out.”  
Scarecrow stewed over the idea. “You know what Killian? That’s actually a pretty good plan. Tin and I could go in and you and Lion could wait outside for us. I mean, Tin and I are the fastest ones here and have more agility. Lion and you have more brute strength that us and could easily take care of the guards outside. That way, we lower the risk of us being spotted and captured.”  
“Also, Lion can shift into being a Lion and if that doesn’t scare of the guards, I don’t know what will,” Tin Man laughed.  
Scarecrow nodded in agreement.  
“I wish we could so something for the people of Oz,” Lion said, “I mean look around us, look at what the Wizard is doing to Oz. He’s draining the life out the land and everyone’s too scared to go against him. I wish that when I looked at Oz I didn’t feel so helpless.”  
“We all wish that Li. Well I’m sure Hook wishes that he was with Emma, but that’s besides the point,” Scarecrow said with a little chuckle.  
“Ha ha very funny Scarecrow,” Hook said.   
“That is what I’m known for,” Scarecrow chirped, “But in all seriousness, the Wizard is killing Oz and there’s nothing we can do. If we try anything, we’d risk getting caught again and that wouldn’t help anyone.” He ran a hand through his hair, “We have to be selfish when it comes to Oz and look out for ourselves. There’s nothing we can do here.”   
“Are you sure there’s nothing you can do to save Oz?” Hook asked. “I mean, can’t you rally the people together? I’m sure they aren’t very happy with the situation and would want to do something to change it.”  
Tin Man shook his head. “The Wizard isn’t afraid to make examples of people who rebel against him. We were the only three that managed to escape and that was only because Dorothy helped us. He has over a hundred prisoners scattered all over Oz and even more people whose lives he’s ended. He’s made people too scared to do anything for fear of being killed or punished.”  
“Why don’t you just kill the Wizard? Wouldn’t that help?” Hook asked.  
“Emerald City is very heavily guarded and if you somehow managed to get through those guards, you’d have to dodge the guards in the city. If you make it to his tower, you’d then have to get through his personal bodyguards that are trained assassins, and even then he’s powerful enough to kill you before you could even think about lifting the blade to attack him. It’s impossible,” Scarecrow said.  
No one responded, each of them lost in their thoughts of home and Oz and Dorothy  
After a minute of silence, Lion piped up, “We should get some sleep. We’re gonna want to leave at first light.”   
The rest agreed and lay down on their cloaks, the fire still roaring. They fell into a fitful sleep, plagued by thoughts of capture and their impending doom.  
When they woke up, their fire had died out and the sun was slowly rising over the horizon. They packed their belongings and immediately set off.  
On the first full day of their travel, Tin Man was trailing behind Scarecrow and Lion, with Killian next to him. They hadn’t gotten very far when Tin Man felt his joints acting up. This was a side effect of Dorothy helping him escape his punishment. Before his punishment, he spent his years being the Wizard’s personal assassin, but when his assignment was to kill a child, Tin had refused. The Wizard punished him for his disobedience by taking out his heart, hoping this would make him less inclined to follow his morals. But even without his heart, Tin Man still couldn’t do what the Wizard wanted. His constant disobedience became to much for the Wizard, so he was punished, forced to forever stand in the lumberjack forest as a rusted Tin Man, his arms frozen in mid-air, swinging an axe. To make the punishment worse, Tin was aware of everything around him, the windy breeze, the sun shining through the trees, the constant pain his body was in. However, he was unaware of how much time had passed standing there. It was only until Dorothy had come to him and gave him back his heart, did he learn how much time had passed. He had seen Dorothy before in the Tower, with her rounded face and curved body, but at that time she looked thin and weary. Every time he had met her before, she always had a light in her eyes but the light had gone out and stayed out. He was grateful to her for rescuing him, for giving back his heart. But since Dorothy’s magic wasn’t very strong at the time, he could no longer feel emotions very well. It was as if his heart was muffled and he found himself not caring about things. He wished he could feel things, feel love like Scarecrow and Lion had.  
Speaking of which, Tin Man saw Lion reaching out to touch the inside of Scare’s wrist before sliding his hand down Scare’s palm and grasping his hand. Scare grasped his hand in turn and they continued on, walking hand in hand. Tin Man wished he could have what they had, that unconditional love they had for one another. They had been together before being sentenced and when Dorothy reunited them, they easily fell back into a relationship.   
Tin Man’s train of thought was interrupted when his legs gave out on him and he fell to the ground. Scare and Lion heard Tin’s yelp as he went down and quickly rushed over to him. Hook grabbed his arm and hoisted him up.  
“Tin, are you all right?” Scare asked.  
“Yeah, yeah I’m fine. I just haven’t had the opportunity to walk this long in a while. My muscles and joints aren’t used to it,” Tin said, pulling his arm from Hook’s grasp.  
This was a bad idea, since Tin couldn’t hold himself up and he nearly fell over. Hook quickly put his hand on Tin’s chest to stop him from falling and used his other arm to keep Tin up.   
“We forgot about that,” Scarecrow said, his eyes wide, a look of concern on his face. “We’ll have to stop more often until Tin gets used to this.”  
“No!” Tin Man said harshly, he didn't want to stop. He didn’t want to stop until they got to Dorothy, even if it meant forcing himself to continue walking and ignoring all the pain. “We have to keep going. We don’t have enough time to stop.”  
“Tin, you have to rest. You’ll kill yourself if you keep going,” Lion said.  
“No. I can go on, just give me a minute,” Tin Man said, stubbornly refusing to rest.  
Hook kept his grip on Tin Man’s arm, keeping him up. He had never seen someone so stubbornly resist to rest, someone so determined to rescue someone. Tin Man was willing to put himself through extreme physical pain in order to rescue Dorothy. Hook would never do something like that to rescue himself. He would do whatever he could to help someone, just as long as it wasn’t out of his way or was too much trouble. He’d never sacrifice anything to help someone. It was strange for him to see this.   
“You need more than a minute,” Scarecrow said, “You need to sit and rest for a at least ten minutes.”  
“No, I’ll be fine. I’ll get used to it, I just have to keep walking,” Tin Man said.   
“Tin-“ Lion started.  
“No,” Tin Man said. “I am not going to rest. I’m going to keep going. I’ll be fine.”  
Recognizing that they would never win, Scarecrow and Lion were quiet. They resumed walking and Hook kept his grip on Tin Man’s arm to keep him upright. They kept walking only making small breaks when absolutely necessary, and they’d stop somewhere for the night.  
They continued the same routine for the next four days; they’d wake up with the sun, pack their things, and set off on their journey. They kept walking making sure to avoid people on the road, and only taking small breaks when necessary. They rationed their supplies so that they wouldn’t have to stop and replace them. They walked until the sun went down, which was they would light a fire and sleep. They barely spoke to each other on their journey, their minds focused on getting Dorothy out.  
Dorothy spent those same four days, constantly being questioned by the Wizard about their son, to which she would repeat the same answer: No. Every day, he would try to catch her in a lie or make her slip up and say something that would hint to his location, but his efforts remained in vain and he got nowhere.   
Every night Dorothy spent in her cell she would reminisce about the times before the Wizard got his powers. She wanted things to be the way they were before, before he got his power, before he became the Wizard, when he was just Kyle— the Kyle that she fell for, sweet, kind, and caring Kyle, with his unruly black hair, bright purple eyes, and a smile that could light up a room. Power had corrupted Kyle and turned him into the Wizard, a cold, vengeful, hurtful man who was so consumed with greed that he was willing to destroy Oz to get what he wanted: unlimited power. Not a day went by that Dorothy wouldn’t wish they had never come across that injured man in the forest, the previous Wizard, who used his last dying breathe to bequeath his powers to Kyle. That was the day Dorothy lost her precious Kyle, and she spent every moment after leaving Oz wishing he would come back. But he was gone and the Wizard took his place. She would never get him back.  
…  
After the long four day journey, the four men reached the outskirts of Emerald City.  
“All right lads, it’s time to put Killian’s plan into action. Li, Killian, you stay here and keep an eye out for any guards. Tin and I will go in and get Dorothy.”  
“How long will it take you?” Hook asked.  
“I don’t know, it might take five minutes, it makes take a two hours, it might even take a day or two,” Scarecrow said, “If we’re not out in a day, come and get us.”  
Lion grabbed Scarecrow’s hand and pulled him close. “Come back to me okay?” he said.  
Scarecrow put his hand on Lion’s cheek. “Of course I will Li. I promise.”  
Lion leaned in and kissed Scarecrow on the lips. Scarecrow wrapped his arms around Lion’s neck and Lion wrapped his arms around Scarecrow’s waist and pressed him close to his body.   
After a minute of them kissing, Tin Man cleared his throat, “Um, we have a mission remember? Saving Dorothy and all that?”  
Scarecrow pulled away, trying to catch his breath, “Right, of course, we have to get Dorothy.”  
But he didn’t move from Lion’s arms.  
“Scare, come one. I promise you’ll see Li again okay? So let’s go,” Tin Man cried, exasperatedly.  
Scarecrow nodded and reluctantly let go.  
“Stay safe and try not to get spotted,” Lion said.  
“Promise,” Scarecrow said.   
Scarecrow and Tin Man set off towards the castle.   
“You okay Lion?” Hook asked.  
“What?” Lion said, looking to Hook, “Uh, yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Just last time we were in that castle, we were all separated. I don’t want that to happen again. I don’t want to lose him, Killian.”  
Hook put his hand on Lion’s shoulder. “They’ll come out of the castle with Dorothy and we’ll leave this place. I know.”  
Lion nodded. “I know, I know. I just can’t stop thinking about it.”  
“Well you’ll have to. We need to keep our minds clear and focused so that we can make sure they have a way out.”  
“I’ll try.”  
Scarecrow and Tin Man snuck up to the Palace, getting as close as they could get without being spotted.  
“So what’s the plan Scare? Scare? Scare!” Tin Man said, hitting Scarecrow on the arm and pulling him out of his thoughts.  
“What?” Scarecrow said.  
“The plan?” Tin Man said.  
“Right. Right. The plan.”  
“We’re gonna make it Scare. I promise.”  
“What if we can’t Tin? What if we get caught? I don’t want to be separated from Lion again. I can’t.”  
“We won’t. I promise Scare, I promise,” Tin Man said.  
At that moment, Tin Man made a silent vow to do whatever he could to make sure Scarecrow gets out, even if it meant getting caught himself.   
“Well we can’t enter through the main entrance, obviously. Maybe we can sneak in through the back?” Scare said.  
“Well I think that around this time the daily provisions should be coming in. Maybe we can hide underneath one of the wagons coming in. They don’t usually do a thorough check of them, considering people are too scared to try anything,” Tin Man said.  
Scarecrow smiled and clapped a hand on Tin Man’s shoulder, “Now that’s a good plan. And you say I’m the one that always come up with a plan.”  
Tin Man smiled, pushing Scarecrow’s hand off of his shoulder. “Shut up. Let’s go.”  
They stealthily ran to the back of the castle and waited. As Tin had predicted the guards weren’t really checking the wagons, just letting them pass.   
“There,” Scarecrow pointed to a wagon, “The last wagon. There’s only one person manning it.”  
Tin Man nodded. “Let’s go. You first, I’ll keep a lookout.”  
Scarecrow nodded. He ran over and slid underneath the wagon, holding onto the bottom and lifting himself so he wasn’t scraping the ground. Tin Man took a second to look around and followed suit and was next to Scarecrow underneath the wagon.   
They waited patiently for the wagon to pass through the gates. When the wagon stopped, they waited until the man start to unload the wagon and walk away. They dropped to the ground and rolled out from under the wagon. Dusting themselves off, they hopped to their feet and slipped through the gates that blocked off the service area, making their way to the center of the city.  
“We’re in,” Scarecrow said, “Now all we need to do is dodge the guards, find Dorothy, and get out. All without being detected.”  
Tin Man snorted. “Oh is that all? Piece of cake,”


End file.
